


guilty as charged

by bapaldeul



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Detective!Daniel, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Rivals to Lovers, defense attorney!jihoon, fast burn or sort of, somewhat b99 au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 07:06:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16827631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bapaldeul/pseuds/bapaldeul
Summary: “Just to be clear, if I bring you evidence that will send that disgusting murderer to jail effective immediately, we can go out for drinks?”That’s Daniel - the detective. Fact-checking is always important when working a case. And this is a case he’s been working on for the longest time; it might as well be considered unsolvable already.The case of winning defense attorney Park Jihoon’s heart.





	guilty as charged

**Author's Note:**

> for nielwink month main week day 1: do you want me?
> 
> based on that one episode of brooklyn 99! :D
> 
> enjoy and do leave a comment at the end if you liked it!

“Good morning, Detective Kang.”

The deep voice sends shivers down Daniel’s back and while he would like to swear it over his sergeant, Jonghyun, and his fortune that he is absolutely not weak for the devil’s words. He composes himself, makes sure he looks  _ dashing  _ when he turns around to face a familiar man shorter in stature, but never lacking in the charisma factor.

“You look nice, Park Jihoon,” Daniel says in a voice three octaves lower than his actual one.

“No voice alterations, please. It’s childish,” Jihoon’s lips curl into a small smile that suggests he knows that his words irk Daniel. His infuriatingly beautiful eyes scan Daniel from head to toe and he shifts uncomfortably in his usual red plaid shirt and NYPD jacket over it.

“ _ Childish _ ? Well, say that to the strawberry milkshake with sprinkles in your hand!” Daniel sputters at the insult.

Jihoon cocks his head at the paper bag in Daniel’s hands.

“And what is that in  _ yours _ , Detective?”

He quickly hides the bag behind his back - although he knows it is too late.

“Nothing,” Daniel feigns ignorance.

Jihoon wrinkles his nose, “Looking at the oil stains on your fingers and the paper bag, coupled with the smell of fried food in the air - I’m 99% sure that those are fish fingers from the fast food joint down the road.”

He’s 100% right.

“Well… if you wanted to become a detective so bad you should have just joined the police academy. I’m sure a Nancy Drew like you would fit right in,” Daniel scoffs, though Jonghyun is sending him glares that indicate he should stop.

But he can’t.

Jihoon is like a drug.

A drug that Daniel will never be able to stop taking.

“I did,” Jihoon shrugs. “I wasn’t too enthusiastic with the idea of sitting around in the precinct all day eating doughnuts or drinking stale coffee in a stinky police car. I prefer real world work, thank you.”

Daniel jabs an angry finger in his face, “Objection! You know those are mere stereotypes!”

“Really?”

Oh no, Jihoon’s eyebrow is twitching. That only happens when he is 100% sure of himself. Evidence  _ and all _ to support his claim. Daniel is so going down in this fight.

Jonghyun taps him on the back and whispers, “You have doughnut crumbs on the side of your mouth.”

Jihoon just chuckles at the sight - and Daniel only melts when his eyes form lovely crescents like the ones he sees in the movies. For Park Jihoon, Daniel thinks he wouldn’t mind losing a thousand banters at all.

“Well, I’ll see you on the other side,” Jihoon tips his head as he heads into the courtroom, strawberry milkshake already in his hand.

Daniel feels empty already.

“You two are children, really,” Jonghyun shakes his head. 

“Yeah,” Jaehwan finally returns, and Daniel guesses he’s finally back from chatting up some gorgeous ladies in the courtroom, which is well,  _ totally professional _ . “You two might as well shove your tongues down each other’s throats and call it a day every time you meet.”

Daniel and Jonghyun grimace at the crude choice of words.

“Really, you’re no help. None at all,” Daniel sighs, throwing his hands into the air.

Jonghyun rests his hand comfortingly on Daniel’s back, reminding him of his impending doom.

Their fight isn’t over yet.

  
  
  
  
  


“And why did you continue to work the case and stalk my client after you had been dismissed from the case from your Captain?”

Daniel wishes Jihoon didn’t have to put on that particular lip tint because instead of thinking of a sound argument, he’s thinking about how he would like to destroy those plump, plush lips of Jihoon’s.

“God save me,” Daniel mutters under his breath, calming his throbbing heart.

He tries to look at something else, something that would make his beating heart stop beating completely so that he would die and never have to face Jihoon in the courtroom again.

The boy takes his work so seriously.

And he is so brutal.

Daniel catches Jaehwan chewing gum in the corner of the room and decides that it kills his appetite (for Jihoon’s lips?) almost immediately.

“I’m sorry, detective. You’re going to have to say that again for everyone to hear.”

He composes himself before replying, “You see, Defence Attorney Park, I knew that handing the case over to Major Crimes would mean that the case would be completely butchered. I had to take things into my own hands and catch that murderer.”

The sly, old, fox even has the gall to smile at Daniel from his position. It’s almost even  _ he  _ can see how much Daniel is struggling under Jihoon’s command.

“Please use the correct term, Detective. That man is  _ not  _ a murderer. He is my client and I will fight for him,” Jihoon looks straight into Daniel’s eyes.

This is not meaningless banter.

This is real world work.

But the look in Jihoon’s eyes almost deceives Daniel into thinking that maybe he is  _ sad _ , sad that they are sitting on opposite sides of the courtroom instead of the same one. Maybe he is sad that they have to be fighting all the time instead of doing literally  _ anything  _ else.

Maybe. Daniel has no concrete proof.

Jihoon’s feelings are confusing - and so are his own.

But there is one thing that Daniel is sure about and it is that the man sitting on Jihoon’s side of the room is a murderer.

_ That  _ Daniel can prove.

  
  
  
  
  


“How are you holding up?”

Daniel hates this. Everything about this feels so wrong, yet so right.

“I’ve been better. You might as well have called  _ me  _ the murderer back there.”

Jihoon lets out a giggle. Daniel  _ swears  _ it’s a giggle. The giggles you get when your crush tells a very unfunny joke but you find it funny because you like him a lot anyway. Jihoon takes his time to wash his hands, and Daniel doesn’t feel that it’s appropriate to walk away. So he stays.

“You’re a good detective. Put up a good fight, alright? It’s not fun when you give up so easily.”

Jihoon is so pretty.

The kind of pretty that makes Daniel want to run his fingers through the other’s hair and watch him smile because he’s happy about life.

It’s probably never going to happen.

“I don’t understand.  _ You  _ know he’s a murderer,” Daniel mutters, pouting like a sad puppy because there’s only the two of them. “Why would you defend him?”

Jihoon gives him a sad smile, “Daniel, that’s my job.”

Oh no, now he’s pulling out the Daniel card.

No more  _ just Detective Kang. _

Daniel -  _ now  _ it’s personal.

Being mortal enemies with someone allows you to learn a lot from them. Maybe Daniel has picked up some of Jihoon’s skills in reading between the lines. Like when he calls Daniel by his name and not by his job - he’s letting down his walls.

“Well… you have a shitty job,” Daniel shrugs.

He’s no good with arguments. That’s Jihoon’s job.

“It’s all about perspective. Yeah, I defend criminals. It’s your job to bring me enough evidence that neither the judge nor I can refute. I’ve seen you do it before, why the long face now? Where’s the  _ “I’m going to kick your ass so hard in court and buy you a drink and get you drunk after” _ detective now, hm?”

Daniel wants to bury himself in a hole and hide in there forever.

“Also, I think we’ve been in here too long. Let’s go, before they get suspicious.”

Daniel almost laughs out loud.

Jonghyun and Jaehwan definitely think that he is doing some big business in here.

“What, you’re afraid they think we’re secretly making out in the cubicles or something?”

Jihoon smirks, “Or worse.”

Yeah. Or worse.

“Just to be clear - if I bring you evidence that will send that disgusting murderer to jail  _ effective immediately _ , we can go out for drinks?”

That’s Daniel - the detective. Fact-checking is always important when working a case. And this is a case he’s been working on for the longest time; it might as well be considered unsolvable already.

The case of winning defence attorney Park Jihoon’s heart.

“As long as you’re paying.”

Well, Daniel wouldn’t mind spending his measley salary on that. Not when he’s already behind on rent and owes his colleagues a mind-blowing amount of money. No, none of that matter to Kang Daniel when he has a sweet cocktail made-to-order ready for Park Jihoon at his favourite bar.

He’s ready to pull as many all-nighters as it takes for this case.

  
  
  
  
  


“Oh my God. I’m literally going to die.”

Daniel was, well, wrong. He is totally not ready to work through the night for this. Even though his lifelong goal is to buy that perfect defense attorney a drink, his other lifelong goal is also to live long enough to have grandchildren so that he can be  _ that  _ cool police grandpa.

“It’s late, go home, Niel.”

“Captain.”   
  


Jisung is the nicest guy on this planet. Apart from that one stranger who had given Daniel some change to buy an ice cream from the vending machine years ago. Granted, Daniel may have been crying a little bit.

Still.

“Overworking a case would only decrease your productivity exponentially. I don’t want you to come in with red eyes tomorrow.”

“You won’t have to worry about that, I’ll be sleeping here.”

Jisung gives him a very disapproving look.

“Kidding!” Daniel tries to calm down his annoyed captain.

“You’re not going to yell at me for working the case even after you took it away from me?” Daniel smiles sheepishly when Jisung looks over his files.

“I know that you won’t be able to keep your hands off it even if I do. All I ask is that you don’t embarrass me and find the evidence that we need to put that man behind bars for life. And- I know you have other…  _ goals  _ to complete.”

Jonghyun is such a snitch.

And snitches get-  _ okay no _ . Jonghyun is the second nicest person in the world next to Jisung. Daniel knows that his sergeant is just very concerned about how much Park Jihoon seems to affect Daniel’s performance in the courtroom. He always does fine during their trial runs.

“He’s a defence attorney!” Daniel protests. “Captain, slap me in the face and tell me that I’m dreaming of a Romeo and Juliet romance. But not too hard, please.”

Jisung just scoffs and ruffles Daniel’s hair lovingly, like Daniel is a child that is acting up.

“You know… Sungwoon and I don’t agree on police work all the time. In fact, I would say that my job is the cause of 90% of our arguments,” Jisung smiles sadly at Daniel.

_ Oh _ .

Daniel had pictured the Captain and his husband to be the Disney couple of everyone’s dreams. Of course they had their own problems too.

“What do you do then? How do you choose?” Daniel fiddles with his thumbs to conceal his nervousness.

Jisung clasps Daniel’s hands in his.

“Daniel, I love my job. And I love Sungwoon too.”

That is so sweet. If his Captain weren’t so good at his job, Daniel would have suggested he become a poet instead.

“The wonderful thing is - I don’t have to choose. I can have Sungwoon  _ and  _ my job. When you really like someone, you’ll compromise.”

Daniel understands.

“I can have the defence attorney and my job too,” Daniel nods knowingly.

“Yes, but you can’t have both productivity and a lack of sleep. It doesn’t work that way,” Jisung says. “Get a good night’s rest and get Jaehwan to work on this with you tomorrow.”

Daniel takes the Captain’s advice and heads home to catch a few winks of sleep. Maybe he’ll miraculously come up with an un-devastatingly tragic way to ask Park Jihoon out once he catches that murderer.

And when he does - he’s going to do it so well.

Catching the murderer, he means.

The part about asking out another boy - Daniel isn’t too sure.

  
  
  
  
  


“Look, the perp was smart not to leave any fingerprints in the house, or on the body. He’s experienced and thought this through,” Jaehwan, the primary of the case briefs the precinct the next morning with the information Daniel had gone through the previous night after he had gone home.

He’d wanted to heed his Captain’s orders to get some sleep, but when he was awake in bed, he thought about that dickhead getting away with murdering someone with a future and kicked off the covers.

Luckily, he had sneaked the case files out of the precinct yesterday.

“I say we go to forensics again, bug them to give us any further details. I’m sure there was something that we had missed out the first time” Daniel raises his hand to make a suggestion.

“The next court trial is in 24 hours, Daniel. I’m not sure if it will do you any good to be seen near this case,” Jisung voices out his concerns in front of everyone, reminding Daniel of the risk he’s taking with this case.

Jaehwan is one of the most brilliant detectives that have, but Daniel has no doubt that he will be able to find something that has slipped right under their noses.

“I’ll solve the case in 12 hours, Cap,” Daniel promises. “The trial tomorrow will go as smoothly as Seongwoo’s legs if he ever gets to shaving them.”

In between angry protests from the detective in question, the laughter of all the other officers in the precinct and Jaehwan’s loud obnoxious whistling at “Daniel’s burn”, he catches Jisung’s eye and when his Captain nods proudly at him, Daniel feels a surge of warm emotions in his chest rise up.

He’s going to catch this murderer once and for all.

  
  
  
  
  


“What can I say, Daniel? You always manage to get caught in the shittiest of cases. The perp’s alibi checks out. He was in Hawaii when the murder happened. There were no signs of forced entry or trauma on the victim, and she was 89, Daniel. It could have been a case of natural causes.”

Yes, Daniel knows all of this already.

Because Jihoon has said all this in his face in the courtroom, embarrassing him in front of many police officers, the public, and the judge.

“I have a hunch,” is all Daniel manages to huff back at his partner.

Maybe he shouldn’t have gone after this perp when all he had was a mere hunch, but Daniel knows there must be something more to the evil smile the perp had in the courtroom - like he knew Daniel would never be able to catch him.

And maybe he was right.

Daniel was always a little too impulsive, too reliant on basic human instincts.

“Can we check the security cameras again? See who knocked on her door on the day of the murder from 4pm to 5pm,” Daniel taps his fingers impatiently on the table.

The forensics team always takes forever with this kind of things and Daniel just isn’t the type to sit around and wait for the answer to find him.

“I already did this morning,” Jaehwan sighs. “The results are still the same. At 4:15pm, a young man from the volunteer organisation supporting the elderly folks in that building came over to give Mrs Kim a food hamper for Chuseok. He left at approximately 4:20pm and Mrs Kim’s daughter came over at 4:45pm, where she realised her mother was lying on the floor, not breathing. We received a call immediately after that.”

Somehow, the words relating to the case are all clouding Daniel’s brain, making him unable to think through this clearly and logically. There must be a flaw somewhere in this perfect plan.

Why would the murderer want a 89 year old lady on the brink of death dead?

They were not related in any way, or even had contact before that.

“Have you interviewed anyone close to the perp?” Daniel asks.

“He has no family, and spent 10 years in jail for involving himself in gang activities before this. He was only released six months ago. Though that’s not a good reason for suspecting him at all.”

Jaehwan’s right. It isn’t.

“The only contact he had were people within the prison,” Daniel muses.

He didn’t commit the crime.

He was in Hawaii to make sure that his alibi checked out if the police ever came looking for him.

“Detectives?” a well made up lady approaches them with a grim look on her face. “You should come and take a look at this.”

  
  
  
  
  


Poison.

Of course, there were no signs of resistance on the old lady’s body. The murderer didn’t need to use force when there was a much easier, and also much harder way for the detectives to deduce the cause of death than injuries and wounds.

“Check on the identity of the guy who brought food hampers to Mrs Kim,” Daniel quickly instructs Jaehwan, who is already on the phone with their Captain to disseminate the new information that they’ve just gotten from the forensics team.

“Her heart was weak so I suspected it was natural causes when there were no signs of trauma on her body at all,” the lady elaborates for Daniel. “But we ran more tests, and look what we found.”

“Potassium Chloride. It can be used to induce heart attacks.”

Daniel’s heart sinks, and it looks like Jaehwan has the same thoughts as he does.

“It’s the guy from that volunteer organisation. Let’s go,” Daniel thanks the lady before rushing off to their car.

15 hours to the second trial, and Daniel is about to turn the tables on this game around.

  
  
  
  
  


“Seongwoo hyung has brought in all the cellmates that our murderer was apparently close to when he was in prison,” Daniel says after getting off the phone with his colleague and amazing friend; who is sacrificing time to help Daniel on this case.

“It’s hard to identify his face because the volunteer organisation guy knew exactly where the camera was,” Daniel sighs.

He can already feel a headache coming up.

No doubt they are having a break through, only more problems await with this new discovery.

“Daniel, I think we both know that if you feel that this case is too tough, you can take a break,” Jaehwan replies.

“Impossible,” Daniel says. “I have to solve this. I won’t let him get away.”

“ _ Him _ as in the murderer or him as in Park Jihoon?”

The silence in the car is deafening thereafter.

  
  
  
  
  


“Yes, we did send out some of our volunteers to give out Chuseok food hampers to the elderly living in that area,” the CEO of the volunteer organisation says, looking very shocked that two detectives are questioning her about the operations.

Jaehwan nods, taking down her replies, “And what do you know about Mrs Kim?”

“She was a nice lady, always smiling. I can’t believe she’s-”

She then chokes up, and is unable to continue her sentence.

“We’ll find the culprit, I promise. I just need one more thing from you, do you think you can point out to us the man in this picture? He was the one who had given the hamper to Mrs Kim,” Daniel says, flashing her a picture from the security camera outside Mrs Kim’s house.

It isn’t the best picture and his face isn’t showing.

“That’s Choi Daewon, a full-time volunteer here for less than five months. I can’t be absolutely sure, but it looks like him from the back. Though I don’t remember assigning him to that particular building that day…” she trails off, eyebrows furrowed together as she looks confused.

“Choi Daewon,” Daniel notes, already on the phone with Seongwoo.

“Daniel, I think I’ve got the guy. He has no alibi but I have no evidence to support that he was at the victim’s house-”

“Hyung, I’ve got what you need. Jaehwan and I are coming over right now.”

With less than ten hours left to the second trail, Daniel has already sealed the case - airtight.

  
  
  
  
  


“Well,  _ someone  _ woke up on the right side of bed today.”

Daniel’s already smiling before he can turn around. And what can he say? Jihoon is perceptive and he is a hundred percent right about the bed thing. He already feels like his steps are lighter today and his shoulders feel much broader than they usually do in front of the other confident man.

“Good morning, Defence Attorney Park. You look… nice.”

Daniel still isn’t the best with compliments. He always happens to somehow become tongue-tied in front of Jihoon.

“I hope you’re ready for the second trial,” Jihoon smiles encouragingly at Daniel, and if Daniel didn’t know already Jihoon, he would probably be tricked into thinking Jihoon was trying to be nice to him before the trial.

“And I hope your schedule is free tonight,” Daniel replies without even missing a beat.

“What?”

It is rare that Daniel manages to fluster Jihoon, he wishes he could take a picture of Jihoon’s face right now and use it against him in court in the future.

Super mature of him, he knows.

“You said I could buy you a drink if I managed to win this case.”

“Technically,  _ you  _ don’t win it. Your lawyer does,” Jihoon takes a deep breath before adding, “But I did say something of similar context. I’m just unsure about how confident you are about me losing a case. It’s never happened before.”

He’s so fucking arrogant sometimes that it actually turns Daniel on a little bit.

“I can’t wait to see you, 6pm tonight. And no, I’m not taking you out on a classy date. I want it to be completely  _ cheap  _ and make it on top of the list the worst dates you’ve ever been on,” Daniel grins, satisfied with the frown that creeps onto the defence attorney’s face as soon as the words escape his mouth.

Jaehwan coughs very unsubtly behind him, “I think you’re doing this wrong, Daniel.”

Jihoon blinks twice at Daniel, then recompses himself and smiles politely again.

_ Defence Attorneys _ \- why do they have that smile plastered over their face the entire time?

It doesn’t help Daniel at all that Jihoon’s smile is about a million times prettier and more annoying than all the other defence attorneys he has come across through his years in the force.

“Well, detective. I’m sure we’ll have a great time,” Jihoon nods.

“If only you win-  _ which I highly doubt you will _ ,” Jihoon adds belatedly, hand moving to adjust Daniel’s tie just to spit him, “I don’t think a date is going to change anything about us.”

Daniel catches Jihoon’s hand right before it falls back to his side.

“You and me both know I like a good challenge,  _ Jihoon _ .”

Jihoon straightens his collar but Daniel sees the faint pink spreading across his plump cheeks.

“Good. Because I don’t like going down without a fight,  _ Daniel _ .”

  
  
  
  
  


“Before we begin, we wish to submit new evidence, Your Honour.”

Daniel can barely wait to see how Jihoon is going to react to this. Still, the other boy sits patiently, in his nice boy posture on the other side of the room, eyeing Daniel and still unsure of what he’s going to do.

While Daniel’s lawyer hands over the new evidence, he makes sure to stare at Jihoon right in his eyes.

“To start off today’s trial, I have a confession to make. The man that I had stalked and arrested was not the murderer. Instead, the murderer of 89 year old Mrs Kim is Choi Daewon, also known as Lee Sangyeon’s cellmate when he was in prison.”

Daniel can’t help it when the jury gasps in shock, and the people erupt into chatter.

“Silence, please,” the judge commands.

“Lee Sangyeon knew the police would come after him due to his police record and the fact that he has been volunteering at this organisation ever since he’s been released. He made sure that he would be in Hawaii when the murder happened.”

Daniel can’t figure out the expression on Jihoon’s face when he lays out the cold, hard, facts for everyone else in the courtroom.

“Luckily for him, his best friend Choi Daewon had just been released from prison as well. And their motive for killing an 89 year old innocent lady? She was talking to the other ladies about how she had received a huge sum of money from the government after her husband had died of lung cancer. They’re sick bastards.”

“Language, detective,” the judge says.

Daniel continues, “I became a police officer because I didn’t want to let anyone like  _ them  _ walk. It’s my job to protect the people in my city.”

His job is important to him.

But so is Jihoon.

He wonders if doing this is going to hurt Jihoon; but he has no other choice. He knows that if he were faced with a choice between saving people and getting the cute defence attorney’s number, he would try to be hero in a heartbeat.

It’s what his father would have wanted for him.

“Any further questions, defence?”

Jihoon smiles sadly at Daniel when he replies the judge.

“None, Your Honour.”

It sucks when one of them has to win, the other  _ always  _ has to lose.

  
  
  
  
  


“You aren’t gloating in my face, what’s wrong, detective?”

Daniel loosens the tie around his neck, finally getting some fresh air. (Jonghyun had insisted on him dressing up to leave a better impression on the judge. Needless to say, his sergeant had been half right about his advice.)

“Well… it feels weird not seeing you all up in my  _ face  _ this time,” Daniel confesses.

Jihoon’s no sore loser, but he is one of the worst winners anyone can ever come across. Some people may blame it on competitiveness, some blame it on the nature of Jihoon’s job to be the best of the best, but Daniel doesn’t care about any of those things.

It’s one of those things that makes Jihoon so loveable, yet so annoying at the same time.

“You did good, that’s all I want to say about this case. It’s closed and they are both going to jail for life,” Jihoon says, drying his hands with paper towels. “I couldn’t think of any better way this case could end.”

“And, thank you for protecting our city.”

Daniel stops short of kissing Jihoon right there and then.

Let’s just say Daniel is a huge brag when it comes to his work because he’s proud of what he does but the moment someone praises him or thanks him, he turns into a bundle of nerves.

Much less it being the defence attorney that he has been fighting in the courtroom and ridiculously pining for in the last few months.

“Well,” Daniel touches the nape of his neck awkwardly. “I think there is something that you owe me.”

“Don’t worry,” Jihoon nods. “You can bring me out tonight for that drink I’ve been waiting for for the longest time.”

“Cheap and unplanned,” Daniel reiterates. “That’s how your night is going to go with me.”

Jihoon laughs.

He has the nicest laugh; one Daniel wouldn’t mind hearing every single day.

“I really wouldn’t have it any other way. See you tonight, Daniel.”

  
  
  
  
  


“I know I’ve seen you go on a million dates in your life since you’re literally every human’s wet dream but I would not have placed my entire fortune on you going on one with Park Jihoon the defence attorney.”

Daniel tries to be cool about it, but truth to be told, there is an hour left before he’s supposed to meet Jihoon at the bar that he’s chosen for their so-called date, and he is nothing but anxious.

His palms are sweating already.

“Shouldn’t you be dressing up?” Jonghyun frowns at Daniel’s outfit (or lack thereof) and frowns. “I would expect at least a nice suit after how long you’ve been waiting for tonight.”

Daniel shrugs.

“I wanted to make it cheap and unorganized so that I could embarrass him to no end.”

“Your ideas of a date with your crush astound me,” Jonghyun sighs.

“My first date with Sungwoon was at a rundown restaurant. The food wasn’t great, and the drinks were average at best. But we had the time of our life and that first date was when decided I wanted to marry that man.”

Of all the people, Daniel wouldn’t have counted on his Captain supporting his weird date ideas but of course, the man has many sob stories of his own to bring the entire precinct to tears.

Daniel swivels around in his chair, “See, the Captain supports me.”

“Even if you’re going on a date with the mortal enemy of police officers,” Jaehwan says.

“Ignore him,” Seongwoo pats Daniel on his back. “He’s just mad that he actually bet his entire fortune on this date. His house and car belongs to me now.”

Jaehwan just bellows in the background that he didn’t know Daniel had the nerve to ever ask Park Jihoon out.

And to be honest, he’s surprised himself too.

“Nothing else matters as long as you enjoy each other’s company,” Jisung encourages.

“Tell me if it escalates into third base,” Jaehwan wriggles his eyebrows, apparently over how he has sold his entire soul to Ong Seongwoo.

Daniel covers his ears and decides to try and turn up early for the date.

Even if he swears he’s going to put  _ minimal  _ effort into it.

  
  
  
  
  


“H ey.”

Someone taps on Daniel’s shoulder, startling him.

“Oh. Hey.”

Well, this is awkward.

It’s strange not to see Jihoon in his usual made up suit and neatly styled hair. Fuck that, it’s weird seeing Jihoon anywhere outside of the courtroom.  _ Wow _ , Daniel had really not thought this through.

Park Jihoon in a brown hoodie and black adidas sweatpants has really adhered to the concept of a cheap and effortless date. Daniel is glad he stuck to his basic red flannel that the entire precinct wants to burn every now and then.

“Where’s the playful detective now, huh?” Jihoon teases, snapping Daniel out of his daydream. “I kind of miss Detective Kang, I don’t know who Daniel Kang is.”

“It’s after work hours, I’m afraid you’re going to be stuck with Daniel Kang for the entire… five hours I plan to keep you with me,” Daniel replies, checking his watch.

“Shall we go in?”

“Wow, what a gentleman,” Jihoon pretends to flutter his eyelashes at Daniel when he holds the bar door open for the other boy.

It still makes Daniel weak in his limbs.

“Don’t fall for me just yet,” Daniel jokes.

“I have no worries about that,” Jihoon hums as he steps into the dimly lit bar, Daniel following behind him.

  
  
  
  
  


“Yikes!”

Daniel’s stomach is in so much pain from laughing.

Jihoon holds the shot glass as far away as he can from himself, wincing as the drink makes its way down his throat and then he glares at the bartender, “What the hell is this? Poison?”

The bartender looks scared.

“Please don’t terrorize Woojin, he just started working here not too long ago,” Daniel doesn’t stop chuckling at Jihoon’s behavior but at least he stops Jihoon from bringing up a case against the poor bartender.

“It’s disgusting,” Jihoon stresses, glancing at Daniel who can’t seem to stop glaring.

“We’re not even halfway through with the drinks I wanted to buy you since Day 1,” Daniel admits.

Woojin looks very confused at their exchange.

“I thought,” Jihoon coughs. “You only wanted to buy me only o-one.”

“When such a pretty boy is sitting in front of me, I don’t think I can just stop at one.”

Daniel is great at holding his alcohol. On happy days like these, he drinks a little more. He’s feeling a little lightheaded but he’s definitely  _ not  _ drunk. Being too happy with alcohol added into the mix makes it easier for Daniel to talk about his feelings.

Jihoon blushes. (Daniel can’t see it clearly - because it’s dark in this bar.)

“Why did you have to wait to win a case against me to ask me out, then?” Jihoon asks, watching Woojin as he mixes his next drink.

“You’re no easy target,” Daniel laughs aloud.

For Daniel, dating is something that he doesn’t spend much time on. Partly because of his job, but also because he feels so detached from real life people; which also happens to be caused by his job.

So yeah, his job is the problem.

He can’t give it up.

Jihoon downs the next shot and flinches.

“Let’s go,” Jihoon announces. “The music here is shitty, I know a better place.”

Daniel isn’t about to enter an argument with a defence attorney. Instead, he slaps a bill to cover all the other drinks he had asked Woojin to prepare and whisks Jihoon out of the bar.

  
  
  
  
  


“This is your home.”

“Great observation, Detective.”

Daniel had not bet on going to Park Jihoon’s house on their first and (possibly) last date. He’s not sure how this one is going so far.

“Why are we in your house?” Daniel voices his very valid concerns out loud.

“Because the drinks here are free and poison free. I thought you wanted a cheap date, here we are,” Jihoon says, bringing out another two cans of beer from his fridge and handing one to Daniel.

“What do other people do on dates?” Daniel asks, opening his can of beer. It’s refreshing and honestly so much better than those shots.

No offence to Woojin, though.

“I don’t know, you tell me,” Jihoon shrugs. “I’ve heard of how many girlfriends you’ve had in the past. You don’t know this but word in the industry spreads pretty fast. We  _ love  _ gossip. Especially about the hunkiest detective in this city.”

Daniel buries his already hot face into his hands.

Now Park Jihoon thinks that he’s a fuckboy.

“And you? What about all the girls and boys you’ve been charming with that sharp tongue of yours?” Daniel attempts to throw a curveball to Jihoon.

Of course, it never works out.

Jihoon shakes his head sadly, “I haven’t dated in years. I’m too busy and I guess I just can’t find anyone who’s willing to put up with that.”

In an oversized hoodie and messy hair and sitting on his couch, Jihoon looks like any other boy on the street.

Daniel can hardly believe that he is the brutal, cold and professional defence attorney he’s used to seeing.

“Well, you deserve someone who does.”

Fuck the alcohol, honestly. It’s making him speak his mind way too much.

Jihoon just smiles at Daniel, making his heart do handstands in his chest.

“Tell me why you wanted to become a police officer,” Jihoon suggests.

“My dad was a police officer,” Daniel says.

He’s told this story a million times to a million other people; but this time is different. This time feels special.

“I used to hate him for coming home so late, and then he didn’t come home at all. I was young and dumb, I blamed him for my mother falling sick, I blamed him for me getting into trouble and not doing well in school. I blamed him for me getting into the high risk programme for youths I blamed him for everything.”

This time, he doesn’t try to paint his father as the bad person, because he never was.

The culprit was Daniel himself all along.

He gulps when Jihoon places a hand on his thigh, encouraging him to go on.

“I tried my best to go against the programme. I was the worst kid, I don’t know how they put up with me. When my mother passed and I was left to live with my dad, I yelled at him and asked him why he had so much time to protect everyone except his own son.”

Daniel wishes he could say sorry to his father.

Just one more time.

“You were young,” Jihoon protests. “You couldn’t have known any better.”

It’s nice to know that Jihoon is on his side.

Maybe that was what he needed when he was growing up - someone to be on his side.

“But now as a police officer, I realise I would do anything just to save one more life. This city means the world to me and I’d protect it with my life,” Daniel admits. “I just wished I realised that earlier, then maybe I could tell my Dad that I finally realise why he’s working so hard all the time.”

Jihoon wipes his thumb over Daniel’s cheek, hiding the tear that had fallen.

“You’re actually a huge baby,” Jihoon teases, then he drops his smile and places a soft kiss on Daniel’s forehead.

Daniel blinks.

Jihoon looks just as surprised with himself.

_ “Did you just-” _

“I think I did,” Jihoon gasps. “I’m sorry.”

He moves away from Daniel quickly, until Daniel catches his wrist.

“Don’t leave,” he pleads. “Please come back.”

Jihoon’s eyes shift nervously.

“Daniel,  _ I can't _ \- Jihoon tries to say, but is stopped by Daniel again.

“I like you,” Daniel confesses. “A whole lot.”

And when Jihoon kisses Daniel, he curses at himself and his bright idea of involving alcohol in this date. He’s mad that the bitter alcohol masks the taste of Park Jihoon on his lips but he makes up for it by wrapping his arms around the defence attorney’s tiny waist.

He realises that maybe the idea of dates never appealed to him because none of them got to him like Park Jihoon did.

From the first day Park Jihoon had completely destroyed Daniel during their first law case together, and to the times where Daniel had hated Jihoon so desperately for standing up for people who were complete villians, to having that hate evolving into love and admiration for Jihoon’s professionalism, Daniel has been wrapped around Jihoon’s fingers.

For Daniel, Park Jihoon is the only one that he wants.

“Hey Daniel,” Jihoon breathes against Daniel’s lips.

“Yeah?” Daniel smiles at the dizzying effect Jihoon’s lips is giving him.

He could live with this forever, he thinks.

Jihoon’s head falls against his chest.

He’s almost afraid that Jihoon is going to hear how loudly his heart is beating in his chest but realises he doesn’t care. He’s crazy for the boy in his arms and  _ he  _ should know it.

“I’m really sorry, Daniel. But I don’t date cops.”

  
  
  
  
  


“Niel?”

“No-  _ what _ ?”

“You’re the most amazing person I’ve met in my life,” Jihoon hangs his head low in embarrassment. “You’re effortlessly funny, and you just…  _ get me. _ I just don’t date cops. It’s not you, it’s me.”

Daniel never thought he’d be the receiver of this  _ “it’s not you it’s me” _ bullshit.

But apparently everything has a due date.

“You can’t say that,” Daniel shakes his head. “You can’t just kiss me and go out on the best date of my entire life with me and then tell me you don’t date cops.”

He didn’t mean to let the “best date of my entire life” slip from his mouth but when he sees how Jihoon’s face falls, a sign of pity for Daniel, he wished he’d never asked Jihoon out at all.

Jihoon tries to grab Daniel’s hand, but he pulls away quickly.

“You know what, it’s  _ my  _ fault. I asked you out on this date, I’m sorry. I won’t bother you anymore from now on.”

He should have known that Park Jihoon would be a heartbreaker.

_ The  _ heartbreaker.

“I can explain,” Jihoon pleads with tear-filled eyes, the first time Daniel has seen the defence attorney so vulnerable and helpless. For a moment, Daniel thinks about staying.

Maybe the guys back at the precinct were right. Daniel should have never fallen for Jihoon, not in the courtroom, not out of the courtroom, nowhere. He’s only going to end up falling for someone who doesn’t love him back.

And he’s not going to blame anyone - he thinks he’s done enough of that in his life.

“It’s okay,” Daniel says, walking away. “I knew you deserved better, anyway.”

Jihoon does try to call Daniel, even leave him a ton of messages that he doesn’t have the heart to open. Probably just a bunch of very well-worded apologies like the defence attorney he is. Daniel just pulls the covers over his head and pretends he’s okay.

  
  
  
  
  


The Captain walks hand in hand with his husband into work the next morning, giggling about something Daniel is not as enthusiastic to hear about as he would on a normal morning.

And while Daniel would say that he is the number one self-proclaimed president of their fanclub, today is just not the day where he wants to be fawning over their love. In fact, it’s maddening to see how two people can be so in love with each other.

“Good morning, Detective Kang,” Jisung greets him with an already raised eyebrow when Daniel does not acknowledge them walking in.

“Hey, Cap,” Daniel manages in his best good-boy voice.

“Niel, it’s been forever since I last saw you,” Sungwoon coos. “Want a muffin? I brought it in for Jisung but it looks like you need one more than my husband does.”

When Sungwoon places a chocolate chip muffin on Daniel’s already loaded table, he can’t help but smile. Maybe chocolate will heal his broken heart.

“Something’s wrong,” Jisung holds a finger out.

The Captain pauses for two seconds.

“Date with the defence attorney didn’t go well?”

Daniel chokes on his muffin so hard, Sungwoon has to slap his back. (And he realises that Ha Sungwoon packs quite a punch.)

“Captain. You’re a genius,” Daniel doesn’t mean for his amusement to mask his sadness but it does when Yoon Jisung is the smartest person he’s met on this planet.

“Not so much a genius than a mere observer,” Jisung replies, pulling Sungwoon down to sit down with him at Daniel’s desk.

Great. Now he’s going to get counselled by two people.

They’re like the two dads Daniel never needed in his life but still got anyway.

“What happened yesterday?” Jisung asks, eyes filled with concern for his self-proclaimed favourite detective in the precinct. Though Daniel would say he is most probably not Sungwoon’s favourite based off the times he’s knocked on their door in the middle of the night to speak to the Captain about work things, he’s happy to say that the Captain’s husband does have a rare soft spot for him.

But then Daniel thinks about the defence attorney and his sparkle filled eyes and soft brown hair and the most bedazzling smile and sighs again, filling the void in his heart.

“He doesn’t want to date me,” Daniel replies shortly. “He says he doesn’t date cops.”

“You asked him out on your first date?” Sungwoon butts in, and gets shushed by Jisung right after.

“He kissed me.”

Jihoon had kissed him first.

Daniel didn’t have any plans to lay his hands on Jihoon last night, afraid he would get any limbs broken by the strict man. Unfortunately, the only thing broken at the end of the night was his poor heart.

“Wow,” Sungwoon blinks, looking at Jisung. “Even we didn’t take things that quickly.”

Maybe things had ended a little too quickly for Jihoon and Daniel too.

“Did he say why he didn’t date cops?” Jisung regains his composure.

Daniel shakes his head, “I left before he could explain. He’s been calling and sending me messages but I’d rather not hear an explanation.”

“Why not? You could fix it,” Jisung insists. “He kissed you first - that must mean  _ something _ . Maybe he’s willing to get over what reason he doesn’t date cops to be with you.”

“And now you’ll never know,” Sungwoon adds, crossing his arms.

_ Ouch _ .

“It hurts,” Daniel admits in a small voice.

He’s been yearning for something for so long. And when that something completely smashes his heart, it’s hard to pick up the pieces and start anew.

“Only something that hurts to lose is worth fighting for.”

Jisung smiles proudly at his husband, and even Daniel has to admit that Ha Sungwoon does give some amazing advice.

  
  
  
  
  


“Hello?”

“It’s me,” Daniel clears his throat and stares at his feet on the ground, unsure what he should do with his limbs now.

His voice drips like honey over the phone, Daniel feels himself falling all over again.

“Daniel?” Jihoon sounds distracted, like he’d been doing something important when Daniel had decided to call him back.

“I’m sorry- did I call at a bad time?”

_ Please say no, please say no, please say no. _

“No,” Jihoon quickly stops whatever he’s doing and he finally sounds calmer, more focused on Daniel, and somehow that makes everything a lot worse. “Actually, I’m really glad you called.”

The boxes of evidence and files stare back blankly at Daniel, none of them helping him in what exactly he should say next to Jihoon.

_ Hey, you know how you broke my heart last night? Yeah, me too. It hurt a fuck lot. _

“It wasn’t fair of me to kiss you like that,” Jihoon confesses. “And it wasn’t fair to you when I said I didn’t date cops. I really like you a lot, Daniel-”

There he goes again, saying things like that to make Daniel’s heart skip a beat.

“But,” Daniel laughs emptily. “I guess I’m  _ just  _ another cop, right?”

There’s silence from the other end of the phone.

Silence means consent, right? He remembers Jihoon telling him that once in the courtroom when all Daniel had been was baffled by Jihoon’s ability to render him speechless.

“I know our jobs make it such that we’re practically enemies but does it really have to be like that? Yes, you stand up for the criminals that I put in jail and I find that really unreasonable.  _ But Jihoon- _ it’s not just about our jobs anymore. It’s about  _ you _ . I like  _ you  _ more than I dislike what you do. I’m willing to fight for you, for us. But it seems like you don’t feel the same way.”

“I’m sorry.”

Tears sting Daniel’s eyes and he just slumps against the boxes on the shelves.

“You’re not just another cop to me,” Jihoon finally starts talking, a little too fast. He’s trying to save himself. “You’re my friend. You- I don’t know anymore. You confuse me.”

_ You confuse me _ . Tell that to the person who kissed Daniel then told him he couldn’t date him.

“I need time to think,” Jihoon says.

“Can you give me some time?”

Daniel has all the time in the world. All the time in the world yet he never knows if he will be given the time of day of the only person in the world that matters to him.

“Okay,” Daniel just replies meekly, lacking the strength to say anything else.

Someone calls Jihoon’s name in the distance and he quickly adds, “Just don’t push me away, please. It’s the last thing I want.”

Daniel doesn’t know whether he should believe him or not, but he’s left with no other choice. When Jihoon hangs up first, he returns to his desk in a worse mood than before, and can only give Jisung a sad smile in return.

  
  
  
  
  


“If he doesn’t say yes, at least you tried.”

Jaehwan had called for an intervention when Daniel barely spoke a word to anyone at the precinct the entire day. He didn’t even crack a smile when their precinct’s assistance, Guanlin, had put on a horse mask and scared Jisung when he’d come out of the washroom.

Not even then. It had everyone in the precinct rolling around on their stomachs crying with laughter, but Daniel’s eyes had been glued to his files and didn’t move until Jaehwan and Seongwoo physically dragged him out to their favourite bar.

“And if he says no, we’ll always be here for you,” Seongwoo hums.

“And alcohol,” Jaehwan adds, clinking their glasses together for the nth time that night. “Alcohol is every sad man’s best friend.”

“Though I must say this Park Jihoon is an extreme case. Niel, you get over breakups fairly quickly. I’ve memorized your routine. You sleep with someone else and get over it. What’s the difference _ this time _ ?”

“I haven’t even gone on a date ever since I first met Park Jihoon in the courtroom.”

It all seems too real to Daniel when he says it out loud.

Jaehwan winces, “I remember that. It was a brutal fight. He completely slaughtered the police unit during that trial.”

“Wow…” Seongwoo shakes his head in disbelief. “You’re fucked.”

At least someone is being real with him tonight.

“We’re not the best advice givers but we are your best drinking buddies. C’mon, this is just a phase. Let’s drink ourselves silly tonight.”

Daniel is not going to deny that alcohol does take a huge portion of the pain away from being rejected.

  
  
  
  
  


Jihoon doesn’t call him back, or even drop him a text.

Which is completely okay.

Or so Daniel tells himself.

He drowns himself in police work - takes up the hardest cases the Captain has to offer the precinct. Even cracks open a few of the cold cases that have been sitting in the archives for centuries just because he works himself so hard to the point where he doesn’t have time to think about Park Jihoon at all.

On the rare occasion that he does, he resists the temptation to drop Jihoon a text, ask if he’s working too hard, remind him to take a break.

And then Daniel remembers that they’re barely anything.

He misses Jihoon a whole lot but maybe it’s just not his place to do anything about it.

  
  
  
  
  


“There’s been an armed robbery at the Bank Of New York. We estimate over a hundred hostages being held inside the bank. So far, they’ve identified five robbers, all armed, but not sure if they’re real or just fake firearms. We’re sending all our units over to lend their support.”

It’s rare that such an incident happens, and it never fails to have the adrenaline pumping in Daniel’s veins.

“Be safe, team. Let’s keep our city safe like we promised we would,” Jisung ends his briefing quickly and instructs everyone to gear up.

Of course, everyone wears a serious expression on their face. Daniel gives a worried looking Jaehwan a pat on the back.

“Aren’t you scared?” Jaehwan asks.

Daniel shakes his head.

“We could  _ die _ ,” his voice falters. “I mean, they’re armed.”

He ruffles his friend’s hair, “We can’t be scared. Think about the hostages. They’re about a hundred times more frightened we are - and we’re the ones that are supposed to protect them. It’s what we live for, right?”

Jaehwan finally gives him an assuring smile and hi-fives him, settling into the van with the other detectives.

  
  
  
  
  


“What’s the status inside the bank?” Daniel asks Jisung impatiently, who looks just as frustrated as Daniel is with the entire situation.

It’s at a standstill. They’ve been guarding the bank for two hours now, and no new instructions from the higher ups to take action. Every minute that passes just increases the danger of the entire situation.

“We’re trying to negotiate,” Jisung replies.

“But-” Daniel protests.

Suddenly, three clear gunshots and a blood curdling scream fill the air.

“They’re shooting,” Daniel clenches his teeth. “We have to go in  _ now _ .”

“Not without any clear instructions, no.”

“We can’t just let the innocent hostages die while we stand outside here and do nothing,” Daniel insists.

“Daniel, I said  _ no _ . Stand your ground until we get any other instructions. And that is a Captain’s order,” Jisung concludes before retreating back into the tent to check on the situation with the other units.

When Daniel returns to his place, he exchanges glances with Seongwoo and Jaehwan and gulps nervously.

“I know what you’re thinking and I’m going to say no. Playing the hero won’t do anyone any good,” Seongwoo warns.

More gunshots, more screaming.

It’s Daniel’s worst nightmare coming true.

What would his dad do?

He can’t just stand here and wait for instructions, he doesn’t know how many more lives will get taken the longer he stands here doing nothing. His entire life, he’s blamed his dad for not being there for him.

The entire time - his dad was being there for other people. People that needed help.

Daniel wants to be there for those people too.

“I come to this bank every month to collect my salary. There’s a back door I’m sure they haven’t sealed up. As for now, they’ve confirmed that out of the five robbers, only two of them have active firearms. The other three are fakes and meant to scare the hostages - who are located in a different room.”

If they do this right, they could save more than a hundred lives.

Daniel recruits a few other police officers from the other units, lays out his plan and gets them all into formation.

He’s probably going to lose his job - but at least he doesn’t have to stay up at night thinking about all the things  _ he should have done _ back then.

He should have called Jihoon.

Told Jihoon how much he loved him - convinced him of it.

Now he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get a second shot.

“Ready?” Daniel looks at the determined faces, some of which he’s never seen before nod in a hundred percent confidence in his plan. All of who are willing to risk their lives and jobs just to save one more person.

“No looking back now.”

  
  
  
  
  


As expected, the robbers have not sealed a back exit shut, and have no one guarding it either. Daniel enters the bank with about seven others behind him, all ready to fire at any threat.

“Clear.”

“All clear.”

His heart is thumping in his chest as the radio buzzes and Jisung’s voice fills his head.

“What the hell are you doing, Niel? Get out of there now!”

Daniel ignores him, saying a prayer and finishes checking all the rooms of the first floor. Surprisingly, all the robbers and hostages are nowhere to be seen. There is no where else the robbers could have hidden such a huge amount of people.

“The vaults,” Daniel suddenly realises. “The hostages are in the vaults, probably in the basement. I say we split up, half of you follow me downstairs, the other half search the rest of the bank. We’re cleared to shoot.”

“Niel,” Jisung’s voice is shaky, not from anger. He’s scared. “Please get out of there. It’s dangerous. I can’t lose you, or Jaehwan, or Seongwoo.”

“Copy that, Captain,” Daniel replies while treading downstairs, where all the vaults are.

“I give you my promise that I will get everyone out safe and sound.”

“All clear!” Jaehwan shouts from down the hallway of the vaults.

“Jihoon wouldn’t want this-” Jisung pleads. And Daniel stops.

Would Jihoon want this?

Does Jihoon even care about him?

He pushes Jisung’s voice and Jihoon’s face out of his head and focuses on the things that are in his control.

Daniel puts down his gun and knocks on the vault.

“Police,” he calls out. “If you’re inside, please let me know so I can get you out now.”

“We’re inside. Please get us out, there’s a pregnant lady in here, and most of us can’t breathe properly. I’m the owner of this bank. The password is-”

Seongwoo quickly follows Daniel in unlocking the vaults and revealing about twenty people crammed into each vault which have all been cleared of the dollar bills. When his eyes scan over their frightened ones, his instincts quickly click into place.

“Jaehwan, Seongwoo hyung, escort them out safely,” Daniel instructs.

Both of them quickly bring the large group of hostages, leaving Daniel to deal with the last group in the vault at the end of the hall.

Suddenly, there is an exchange of gunfire from two floors up.

His radio buzzes, “One robber down. We’ve got three others too, all unarmed. The last robber with the active firearm is nowhere to be found.”

“Copy that, let’s get all the hostages out first.”

Only the last vault of people refuse to move.

“Come on,” Daniel urges them, who continue to sit in the vault, all probably too traumatized from the ordeal to make a move.

He grabs a young boy, probably no older than seven.

“Let’s go, it’s going to be okay. I promise,” he tries to encourage them, but he’s desperate for them to move out so that he can ensure their safety before trying to locate the final robber.

The boy shakes his head and stays seated.

“Niel-” Jisung’s radio cackles in his ear. The signal in the basement is terrible. “The… one. He’s… in…. with-”

Chills run down Daniel’s back when he finally makes eye contact with one young man sitting in the corner of the vault, smiling back at him.

The last armed robber is in the vault with the hostages.

“Don’t move,” the robber grins as he holds up his gun. “And nobody gets hurt.”

Daniel stands frozen at the door of the vault, unable to think.

“What are you going to do now? I thought you wanted to play hero. Now you’ve put the lives of twenty people in danger.”

He tries to control his breathing but when the sweat drips down his face, he can’t help but feel it’s his fault that this has happened.

“Put down your weapon,” the robber says, holding his gun to the head of the lady next to him.

“You sick bastard,” Daniel snaps, but slowly puts his gun down.

“Let them go,” Daniel warns. “Your compliance with my words will give you a lighter sentence in jail, I promise.”

The robber laughs, shaking his head.

“Let’s make a deal. Let go of the lady and I’ll let you take me hostage instead. An exchange,” Daniel proposes, kicking his gun towards the robber. “I’m surrendering myself right now, see?”

The robber seems to think about his words, then lets the lady go.

She collapses against the wall, and distances herself from the robber.

Daniel says a silent prayer and in a flash, grabs the gun he’s been keeping hidden in his belt area, and aims at the chest of the robber. At the same time, he sees the robber pressing on the trigger of his own gun at Daniel.

He closes his eyes, waiting for everything to go black as the air erupts with screams and a series of gun fires.

Something pierces through his skin, searing through his right shoulder and slamming him against the floor. The pain is so great, Daniel can’t even scream.

“Freeze! Police!” 

When he opens his eyes, everything seems blurry until a familiar face pops into view.

Jaehwan and the other police officers have the last robber surrounded, while Jisung helps him up.

Daniel squeezes Jisung’s hand hard, trying to take deep breaths and avoid looking at his shoulder.

“I know it hurts,” Jisung tries to get him to stand. “You’re okay, Daniel. You’re so brave.”

Daniel doesn’t like to cry - but the tears flow when Jisung pats his back, whispering praises into his ear to soothe the pain while yelling for a medical team.

“You’re going to be okay,” Jisung assures him while the medical team rushes in with a stretcher. “You’re the bravest detective I’ve ever seen, Daniel. You proved that to me again today.”

There’s a lot of talking, shouting and screaming after that.

Lying on the stretcher and feeling his consciousness slip gradually from his grasp, Daniel wishes he just had time to make a call before he had charged into the bank.

Now he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get to say the words  _ “I love you” _ to the person who needs to know it the most.

Everything goes black.

Was he being brave by deciding not to call Jihoon again or by charging into a high-risk situation without direct orders-

Or was he merely a coward who feared a second rejection and was afraid that he would blame himself forever if he stood by and did nothing?

  
  
  
  
  


“He’s awake.”

Daniel’s mind is disoriented when he opens his eyes, closing it again immediately because of the harsh light that pierces his vision and hurts his head.

The only thing that hurts more than his throbbing head is his shoulder. He tries to move, but winces in pain and falls back onto the pillow.

“Don’t move, you’ll only stretch the wound.”

“Captain,” Daniel croaks.

His mouth feels gross and his throat is parched.

“I’m so sorry for disobeying your direct orders,” Daniel finally says.

He cannot even begin to imagine how much shit Jisung is going to get from the higher-ups to take responsibility for his detective charging into such a dangerous situation. All this is his fault, and his large ego that cannot take orders from other people if it goes against his own morals.

Daniel is the world’s worst detective and person.

“Kang Daniel!”

The hospital door barges open, startling everyone in the room as a figure sprints to Daniel’s side and buries his head into Daniel’s chest and starts to sob.  _ Hard _ .

_ “I thought I fucking lost you-  _ you good for nothing cop,” Jihoon’s curses are muffled by his cries into Daniel’s shirt but it still makes him smile. Lifting his left hand because moving any right side of his body makes him want to scream in pain, he pats the back of Jihoon’s head softly.

“You…  _ you- _ ” Jihoon huffs, balling his fingers into fists. “How could you ever put yourself in so much danger. Did you not think about  _ me _ ?”

Daniel replies truthfully, “You were the only person I thought about.”

Jihoon lifts his tear-filled face, scowling, “And you still risked your life?”

“I had to,” Daniel smiles.

Runny nose and red cheeks Jihoon is still cute to Daniel.

“How dare you-” Jihoon still isn’t done with lecturing Daniel in front of all his colleagues, who look very frightened of the attorney who looks like he is going to strange Daniel if he chooses the wrong words.

“The gun could have hit your heart!  _ Your fucking heart! _ ” Jihoon yells.

“Shh, I’m okay,” Daniel grabs Jihoon’s hand. “I’m okay, Jihoon.”

Suddenly, Jihoon slumps onto his feet, burying his face into his small hands.

“I was  _ so  _ worried.”

“You were worried about me?”

The thought alone makes Daniel dizzy and he is sure it is not the meds.

“I was so scared I wouldn’t be able to tell you that I liked you back, I wouldn’t be able to see your stupidly handsome face again, wouldn’t be able to kiss you again-”

Daniel would have loved for Jihoon to continue forever, but Jisung clears his throat awkwardly and they both suddenly realise that there are people in the room other than them.

“We’ll be outside,” Jisung informs Daniel. “Just going to give you two some space.”

They wait until all the detectives have cleared the room to look at each other again.

Daniel can’t help the smile that spreads across his lips for the first time in a long while.

Jihoon just avoids his eyes.

“Hey, continue where you left off, you were saying something about wanting to kiss me again” Daniel nudges Jihoon.

“Can’t,” Jihoon shakes his head cutely. “I’m embarrassed.”

Daniel tries to sit up to get a better look at the boy, but is pushed back down.

“The doctor said minimal movement to let the move heal,” Jihoon says.

“Then  _ you  _ come up here so I can see your face clearly,” Daniel tries to make space for Jihoon.

After realising that Daniel is not taking any arguments from him, Jihoon sits hesitantly on the bed, lacing his fingers with Daniel’s.

“I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to feel this again,” Jihoon whispers, looking at their intertwined hands.

Daniel realises that he hadn’t been the only one who was afraid this entire time. Jihoon had been too - and he had completely disregarded that.

“I was so scared of dating cops because I know how dangerous your work is. You get hurt all the time trying to save people, and you’re always putting others safety before your own. I don’t want to lose someone that important to me, I cannot imagine how I would have coped if  _ you  _ didn’t make it today.”

“Don’t,” Daniel stops Jihoon from rambling. “I’m here. I’m always going to come back to  _ you _ .”

All this while, he had thought Jihoon was being petty about not dating cops because of his job when all he was afraid to lose was Daniel himself.

“I know. You’re the bravest person I’ve met in my entire life and I don’t think anyone is ever going to compare to you,” Jihoon confesses with a small smile.

“You were right. We may have our differences but I’m going to fight for us.”

Daniel thinks they can save the small talk for later.

This time, he is the one who captures Jihoon’s lips in his own.

Without the alcohol and insecurities masking the kiss, Daniel can finally enjoy the kiss and thinks that there is nothing lacking about Jihoon’s plump, cherry red ones. Jihoon is equally enthusiastic about the kiss as he was the first time, only this time is about a hundred times better because Daniel knows that his love is being repaid in full.

“Uh-” the door slides open, revealing a very shocked police captain. Jisung hurriedly shifts his eyes from the couple to the floor.

Jihoon slips when he tries to get away, falling right into Daniel’s arms.

“I just got off the phone with the commissioner. He wants to give you a medal of honour for your act of bravery today-”

Daniel smirks at Jihoon who is cuddling up nicely beside him.

“-and you’re suspended from work for two months for disobeying orders, endangering your life and many others.”

This time, it is Jihoon who smiles knowingly at Daniel.

“What? What am I going to do at home for two months?” Daniel squeaks.

“ _ Heal _ ,” Jisung replies flatly the same time Jihoon eyes Daniel and says:

“I can think of many things  _ we  _ could do at home in two months.”

“Wow,” Daniel laughs aloud. “Slow down, tiger. The doctor said no  _ strenuous  _ activities for a while. Though I’m sure  _ other things _ are still in the open.”

Jihoon slaps Daniel’s chest gently, hiding his red face in the crook of Daniel’s neck.

“Thank you, Captain,” Daniel says to Jisung who is already halfway to closing the door again.

They stay silent for a while, and Daniel takes his time to appreciate not defence attorney, but his  _ boyfriend  _ Park Jihoon, who is in a hoodie instead of a suit, cuddling beside him instead of playing a game of push and pull in the courtroom.

“I love you,” Jihoon confesses. “In case you didn’t know.”

Daniel turns to kiss Jihoon’s forehead softly.

“If I didn’t know you well, I would have thought that you were whipped for me, seeing how quickly you rushed here without even brushing your hair,” Daniel teases.

Pink dusts Jihoon’s pretty cheeks, making Daniel’s heart swell with pride knowing that Jihoon is now his.

“I guess you could say I’m guilty as charged,” Jihoon smiles, punctuating his confession with another peck on Daniels lips.

“Any further questions?” Daniel nuzzles his head into the crook of Jihoon’s neck; now _his safe place._

“None, detective.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!!
> 
> comments are always appreciated by me <3
> 
> do support the other works in nielwink month's main week as well :)


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